The Mythics
by coldstone4815
Summary: The Darkness is always there. You cannot run from it. It will rise, and the world will be doomed. It can only be saved if you step up, join the others, and fight for it. Sometimes, though, joining the ones you don't get along with isn't easy. But if you can't get along, the whole world will pay for it. (Youtubers used. T for cursing.)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One -The Beginning**

In the beginning, there was darkness. It called itself the Void. It was vast, and was all-knowing. It had control of time, and space, and with its powers created the world.

At first, it made a center. The center was the Core, and would give energy to the world. Then, the Void made earth. It created mountains and valleys, plains and oceans. It grew plants, and created life. The Void sat back and watched, then. It watched as the life grew too curious, and found the Core.

The life corrupted the Core, casting darkness over the world. The darkness lasted for eighteen years. These were dubbed the Dark Times.

Each year, though, the Void created a creature. It was neither animal nor man, but a mixture of both. Each animal was able to fight for its survival and live through the Darkness. And as humans slowly died out, they lived on. They called themselves the Mythics.

The first Mythic was a spider. It was able to see in the dark, and poison its victims. The second was a horse, one who could run tirelessly and never get caught. The third, a snake who could turn even the strongest of men into stone. The fourth was a smaller creature that of which could fly to the stars on the wings of a bat. The fifth was a dragon, fearsome and mighty and bale to burn whole forests with a single breath. The sixth was a fish of which could swim around the entire world. The seventh was a goat, who lived on the rocky mountains high above everything. The eighth was a horrifying beast, with a lion's head and a snake for a tail; it was quick to join the goat in the mountains. The ninth was a wolf, whose howl could make even a dragon cry.

The tenth, a monkey that loved to riddle and joke. The eleventh: a close relative to the first, yet with a long body of a scorpion. The twelfth was a manticore, with a human face and a lion's body and bat wings. The thirteenth was an unlucky one, called the jackal. The fourteenth was a mighty croc, one that could snap trees in half with its jaws. The fifteenth was half-bull, and its brute strength alone let it topple mountains. The sixteenth was a shark, one who would accompany the fish. The seventeenth was a bear, whose roar could crack the earth. The eighteenth was a frail thing, which flew on wings of color high above the clouds as half-woman.

They lived separately, though, and did not want anything to do with each other. Eventually, the Darkness grew and grew. It was beyond the Void's control, and it could do nothing about the growing beast. The Darkness became a horrible, twisted creature of pitch black.

It thirsted for energy as sustenance, and would eat up the entire world if it had the chance. But it could not, and it ended up eating its own tail out of starvation. It circled around the world not once, or twice, but _three _times, eating itself. The Mythics named the Darkness: Ouroborus, a creature that never ended and never died. They rose together against Ouroborus, saving the world with their combined strength.

They chopped Ouroborus up into tiny pieces and scattered him throughout the world. The energy that the demon had eaten was dispersed back into the world, bringing life back and giving the Void control again.

But it was not a victory for them. In the effort of killing the Ouroborus, their energy was sucked away. And, even though the Ouroborus was eventually killed, they soon followed him to death.

But the Ouroborus was a creature that never died. As long as there was evil and unrest in the world, he would live. He hid in the shadows, waiting for another chance to collect his body pieces.

The Void would not have it happen again, though. It created the Sun, and then the Moon when the Sun tired. They circled each other and kept the world in enough light that Ouroborus should never return.

So the Darkness fled into the deepest pits of the earth, leaving behind its mutilated body pieces and wrapping its subconscious around the Core in hopes of feeding off the energy. And, slowly but surely, the Ouroborus was pieced together. It took millions of years, for piecing oneself back together again was not an easy task.

In the meantime, Void brought the humans back to life, though saddened by its loss of its dear helpers.

To the Void's surprise, though, the humans found children of the Mythics. These children lived and grew. At first, the humans were fine with them, but then the Mythics kept growing and soon would overpower them. Scared, the humans threw the Mythics away in hopes that they would die.

But they did not, and they survived. They had their own children, and their children had children, and their children's children had children. They lived on, much like the humans, and soon the Mythics and the humans were at odds against each other.

Each side was scared of each other, but each side did not want to wage war. So they lived on, always hostile but never truly warring.

The Ouroborus lived on, too, and slowly regenerated himself. It was a long and painful task, taking millions of years, but he knew that one day, he would rise again.

And when he did, he knew that nothing, not even the Mythics, would be able to stop him.

* * *

**Sound good so far? Just the background and lore; the rest of the story will come soon.**

**This 'little' idea hit me when I was drawing, and my brain basically exploded. I was literally bouncing up and down out of excitement while writing this. This is probably the most excited I've been about a story. Ever.**

**So I hope you enjoyed! Youtubers are soon to come (with a bit of a surprise) and I'm sure you guys will like this story. Leave a review, tell me what you think. Sorry for those huge blocks of text and stuff; it won't happen anymore. Thanks for reading. Stay awesome, everybody.**

**-Cold**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two - Report**

The valley was peaceful. Grass swayed gently in the wind, brushing blue and yellow flowers with their soft fingers. The wind whistled a soft tune, playfully dragging fluffy white clouds across the deep blue sky. And over it all, a bright orb of yellow-white watched the world below.

The peace was interrupted with a cry and a clash of swords.

"I told you to stop stealing our food, you bug!"

"It was _our _food to begin with, mule!"

The stallion made a cry of outrage at being called a mule, which sounded much like an angry whinny, and reared back onto his hind legs. He kicked at the arachnade in front of him, grip tightening on his dual swords. "At least I'm not a _cockroach_!"

"Oh, you went too far on that one!" the arachnade shouted, legs jerking in rage. He stood to his full height, which was a good foot above the centaur's, and bared his fangs. "I'm an _arachnade, _mule."

"Well, I'm a centaur! So stop calling me an ass!"

And their swords met once again.

A bit of ways away sat a strange, monkey-like thing. He had four arms, two legs, and two long tails. He was much taller than a normal monkey, and was standing like a human. "They're at it again, Mitch."

The half-scorpion, half-human next to him hissed a sigh. "You know who started it, Jerome?"

Jerome shook his head, round ears twitching. "I think it was Jordan."

"My cousin doesn't start fights," Mitch said indignantly, curling tail bobbing in the air. He shuffled a bit, deep green body gleaming in the sunlight. "Jordan's better than that. It was probably Ant."

Jerome shrugged, sitting down and scratching his stomach with one of his hands. "Well, I have bets on Ant."

"I call Jordan."

"You guys know it's pointless, right?" someone squeaked from the trees. Mitch looked over, human half rising up. He smiled and waved. "Hey Ethan. Glad you could make it."

There was a slight huff, and a puff of smoke. A bat swung down from the tree, wings spreading out as he glided over. Each wing was colored brilliant silver, with streaks of pale green; and each were at least two feet long. With another puff of smoke, the bat disappeared and a human with bat wings took its place. "Had to fly through a thunderhead for it, but I missed the last meeting."

"What were you saying about betting being pointless?" Jerome asked, picking some old food out of his sharp teeth. He sniffed it, then stuck his finger back in his mouth.

"Well, it's always Jordan that wins. He's the strongest of all of us."

"Not true!" Suddenly, a snake coiled around Ethan. The bat yelped and disappeared in a puff of smoke, flying out of the loose bundles of brilliant gold coils.

"Sky, I told you not to do that!" Ethan snapped, his large ears folded back as he hovered in the air.

The naga, Sky, just laughed; his gold and amethyst amulet bounced as he did so. "Aw, c'mon Ethan! It's funny when you jump like that."

"No it's not," Ethan muttered, transforming back into his more human form and sitting down on a rock next to Jerome, watching the fight.

Jordan had Ant pinned under him, eight legs easily keeping the centaur's white and grey-speckled horse half down. "Admit it," the arachnade hissed, teeth gleaming as he scowled, dripping with venom, "It was our food."

Ant struggled, one leg kicking. He desperately reached for one of his swords, but Jordan quickly kicked it out of the way. The centaur glowered up at him, brown eyes narrowed. Finally, he huffed and pushed his hair out of his face; the ponytail had come loose in the fight and now his dark hair was splayed everywhere. "Fine," he muttered, "It was your food."

Jordan gave a grin of victory, then back away. He didn't put his back to Ant, but rather kept walking backwards until he was with the group.

"This isn't over," Ant called, picking himself up off the ground.

"It never even stared," Jordan shot back, sheathing his green longsword by his side. He reached back and grabbed the red scepter he always carried around, fingers drumming against it. "Who else isn't here?"

"Almost everybody. Bodil and Simon aren't here yet, which is weird," Sky answered, twisting around to look up at the mountains which rimmed the valley. "Think they ran into trouble?"

"I doubt it," Jordan muttered, cyan eyes roving over the mountains. "That satyr knows how to save his hide, with as much trouble that he causes."

"Hey, didn't you try to eat him once?" Mitch asked, turning to glance at Jordan.

The arachnade just shrugged.

Ant came galloping over, basically snorting anger. He cast a sharp glare to Jordan, then trotted over to Ethan and started up a conversation.

"I think we should be more worried about Husky and Seto," Jordan said after a moment.

"Meh, they have Ty to help them. And besides, there's a pond right over there. If they start drying out like dead fish, then they can go there," Sky replied over his shoulder with a half-grin and a shrug.

Jerome crinkled his nose at that and said, "Oh gross, I didn't want to think of that."

Laughter rang around the valley suddenly, and a few pebbles came bouncing down the slope as a satyr leaped down it. "Come on, Simon, we're gonna be late," the satyr called, jumping up and turning in a complete circle to glace back at the chimera following him.

Simon rolled his eyes, but his human face lifted into a slight smile. He shook himself, chestnut brown mane flying. "We're already late."

"Not as late as we would be if you hurried up, you fat cat."

The chimera snorted, padding down the rocky slope; his goat-like hind legs helped him with balance, and his front ones with gripping. Unlike most chimeras, he had no wings, but the dark unicorn horn still wound out from his head. "I'm not fat—just shaggy. You're one to talk, Bodil."

Bodil snorted and shook his head, fiddling with his tie. Like most Mythics, he wore no clothes, but his tie was the only exception. That and his sunglasses. He flew down the slope, hooves easily finding purchase on even the smallest of rocks. "Guys, we made it here on time! Proud of us?"

"He is actually on time," Mitch said, checking the wristwatch that he wore. It was always with him; nobody ever saw him take it off. Not even to sleep. "The others are late."

"Haha, yes!" Bodil laughed, bouncing up and clapping his hands together. He earned a snort from Ant, who shuffled his feet.

"Dude," Sky called from his conversation with Jerome, "You missed another fight!"

"Who won this time?" Simon asked, though he didn't need to. Sky instantly just pointed to Jordan, then paused when he realized Jordan wasn't where he had been. "Uh, where'd he go?"

"He's over there," Jerome answered, pointing to the entrance to the valley.

The arachnade was helping a grey-skinned human along, and his lips had actually twitched up in a smile as he listened to the other.

"So I cast this new spell the other day, and tried it out on this water snake. Jordan, I turned it _pink_. I'm so glad I didn't try it on Husky. He would have never forgiven me."

"I don't know; a pink shark seems pretty funny, Seto."

Seto grinned, flashing his serrated teeth. He reached up to rub one of his long ears, which grew from the top of his neck and said, "Well, I don't feel like being made into sushi. And besides, who would take care of this?"

He tapped the butt of his trident, which he was using to help himself walk, against the ground. The sun shown down on it, making it glow a radiant blue. Its tips were a dark grey, and it was decorated with bands of green that were embedded with sapphires. "I mean, I can't just let someone else rule the ocean."

"I could have it!" Husky called, shark tail waving as he walked behind them. He grinned when Seto turned to glare at him. "At least I don't mind wearing clothes."

Seto sighed and rolled his eyes, fixing the loose robes that hung over him like seaweed. They were a plain white, and draped over his body. He refused to wear anything else, besides sandals. "I hate these things."

"Don't we all," Jordan replied, glancing up as a shadow passed overhead. "I feel sorry for Ty."

Seto nodded in agreement, watching the half-Ender dragon fly overhead. Ty, unlike the others, was more human than animal. He had wings and a tail, and also horns, but other than that he had nothing else. So he had to actually wear clothes.

"Ah, water!" Husky cried suddenly, shoving past Seto and Jordan. The former cried out and fell back on his butt. He scowled and struggled to his feet, wavering and leaning heavily against his trident.

"Husky, you-"

"Can't hear you!" Husky cried, stripping and diving into the water. Not a second later he was back up, blue and orange shark-half beaching him in the shallow water. This earned a chuckle from Seto as the fish struggled to get into the deeper water.

"Serves you right," Seto muttered, half-limping half-walking over to the water. He instantly collapsed as soon as his toes touched the water, pulling off his robes before sinking further into the water. He sighed, two legs merging together into his purple tail. "Hate those silly things," he muttered, tail pulling out of the water then back down to splash Husky.

The shark huffed and splashed him back, finally able to swim after dragging his tail further into the water.

"hey, watch it!'

"Sorry, sorry!"

There were two thumps, one heavier than the other. Sky lifted himself higher with a grin, waving. "Hey, Ty!"

The half-dragon shook his head, brushing off a purple feather. "Hey, Sky."

"What, you aren't going to say hey to me?"

Sky' grin instantly fell, and he coiled into a loose bundle. Slowly, as Dawn neared, his tail lifted and started to shake back and forth, rattling dangerously. The harpy hunched her pink and purple wings, face contorting angrily.

"Alright, not now guys," Jerome said, pushing off the ground and bounding over, running on his knuckles. "No fighting."

"I still don't get why she has to be here," Sky muttered to Mitch, turning away. "She doesn't do anything but complain."

"We _all _complain, Sky," Mitch replied with a roll of his brown eyes. Sky snorted again, curling his tail close. He ran a hand over the purple, diamond-shaped markings running down it. "Whatever."

"Who are we missing?"

"Baki," Bodil answered, bouncing on his feet. "And Ryan and Jason. O, and also Ian-"

"Who said my name?"

Bodil instantly shut up, shrinking down when a shadow passed over him. He turned, and made a _maa_ of slight fear. "H-hey, Ian."

The jackal glared down at him, dark blue eyes glittering. His long snout scrunched up and he snorted, pushing the satyr out of the way with a large hand. "Sorry I'm late. I ran into the two wild things. Had to break them apart." He jerked a clawed thumb back to the two mythics padding up behind him.

"It's alright," Jordan said with an even face, once again building himself up so he would be taller than the others. Ian noticed this with a slight narrow of his eyes, and one long, black ear twitched. He snorted and shook his head, taking long strides with his lanky legs and going over to sit by himself.

Simon growled at him, moving out of the way as the jackal passed.

"Well," Ant said with a stomp of a hoof. "Now all we need is Bashur, Baki, and Kermit. Then we can start this stupid meeting."

There was a soft bark, and his attention turned to Jason. The wolf was sitting down next to Jerome, tongue lolling out of his mouth. Jason paused and swallowed, then said, "I saw Kermit while Ryan and I were fighting. He's coming now."

The brown bear made a groaning noise, lumbering past the white wolf. "He'd fallen asleep on the road, can you believe it?"

The bear took two steps, then stood up and slowly shifted into a more human thing. He was still covered in thick brown fur, and he had the legs of a bear. But other than that, he was more human than anything else.

Jason did the same, but his tail and ears remained. The tail wagged back and forth, accompanying his slight smile. "I got to wake him up. H's poking along right now with Bash."

"Good to hear," Jordan muttered.

"Hey! Guys, we better get going!" Seto called, splashing as he rolled onto his stomach. "I smell a storm coming."

Ian lifted his black muzzle to the sky, taking a deep breath. "He's right. And I'm not getting caught in it."

"Shut up, Lassie," Sky shouted, earning him a dark glare. Sky only laughed though, and wound several time around a tree, leaning against it. "D'you find Tommy in the well, yet?"

"Someday, naga," Ian hissed, ears flattening as he growled.

"Someday what?" A crocodile asked, lumbering into the valley with a minotaur and a manticore in tow. "Watcha gonna do this time, Ian?"

"Kill everybody. And feast on their innards," Ian muttered quietly. This earned him a sharp glare from Jordan, who was the only one who heard it. There was a subtle tightening of his grip on his scepter, and Ian ducked his head.

The manticore bounded over to Simon, tackling him with a "Hey dude!"

Bodil laughed, bouncing up onto a rock to watch the play-fight. "Go Baki, go!"

"And the party's arrived!" Bashur shouted, dropping his hammer onto the ground and collapsing. "You miss me?"

"Hardly," Ty muttered, making Sky snigger.

"Let's start the meeting already," Jordan called, clapping his hands to gain everybody's attention. "I'd rather not have to trudge through mud and rain to get home. As always, we start with Eighteenth."

Everybody got together, moving away from the largest rock nearby. Dawn fluttered over to it, feathers glittering in the bright sunlight. "All lies well in the Harpy Tribe," she started, "Food has been plentiful. But a pack of _dragons _were inside our borders." She cast a short glare of to Ty, multicolored eyes narrowed. "We made them turn away and there were only minor injuries. That is all."

She glided off the rock, settling down next to Kermit. The crocodile scooted away from her, shifting into half-human so he could walk sideways. Ryan sighed and stood, climbing up onto the rock in his human-ish form. "Winter has weakened us, and the plants in our territory are not growing back easily. But we've stuck to it, and we are growing a farm. That is all."

Seto watched the sky as the others went through their reports. Brown eyes narrowed, he lifted a hand and threw a small cloud of purple dust in the air. It whipped up into the sky, swirling around but staying together. It was whisked away, heading east. Seto lifted himself out of the water, tail flipping up as he looked west. He could just make out dark clouds forming behind the mountains.

He heard Ian say something along the lines of, "Humans came to us four days ago, trying to kill us. We ate them," but Seto was too focused on the clouds to really care.

There was something wrong with the oncoming storm. He couldn't really place it, but it was more like a twisting in his gut. He had the premonitions before; mainly before hurricanes or heavy storms over the ocean. But this one was different—darker.

"Seto, your turn."

The merman jerked and cleared his throat, sitting up so he was kneeling much like a human on its knees. "The ocean is not well. There have been reoccurring earthquakes, and the underwater volcanoes are erupting far too often. A sickness has grown over the Mer Tribe, but the scholars are figuring out a cure as we speak."

A worried murmur went around, and Husky cast him a concerned glance. The shark shifted and asked, "Will this affect anyone else?"

"As far as we can tell, no," Seto answered, shaking his head. He leaned against the trident, which acted as a support. "It is only running in us Merpeople. That is all."

Ty flew up to the rock, black tail curling around his feet. "Food is plentiful and everybody is healthy. I sent scouts out a week or so ago to claim more territory-"

Dawn growled at this.

"- But other than that, we are perfectly healthy. That is all."

Ethan flew up to the rock as Ty slid off. "Storms have been running rampant in the coves, destroying most of our nests. We are repairing, but it is taking time. We have moved the women and children to a safer place for the time being. That is all."

Sky came slithering up next. He spun a wild, but true, tale of a battle, taking his sweet time like always. But then he said, in a more serious tone, "The last elder has passed away to join the earth's energy. He was taken by a mysterious illness... We grieve for him, but life goes on. That is all."

There was pain in his voice, though. It was barely detectable, but it was there.

Ant trotted up to the rock, hooves clicking whenever he moved. "Humans have once again tried to take over our fields, but we beat them off. They are trying to build houses. We will stop them, like always. That is all."

Jordan walked past him, one leg sticking out to trip the centaur up. Ant snorted and nickered slightly, scowling at the arachnade's back.

When Jordan reached the rock, he was silent. For a long moment, he stayed very still. Then, in a voice that was not his own, he muttered, "The Darkness is coming."

Everybody jumped when his head snapped up, eyes completely black. Seto gasped through his nose, gills on his neck flapping in surprise. He shifted up onto his elbows, staring at Jordan and shaking his head. "No..."

Jordan got this twisted, dark grin that wasn't his. And then, with a horrible chuckle, he uttered, "And this time it will not be stopped."

"Jordan, stop thinking. Snap out of it."

"Should I punch him?" Ant asked, one hand going to one of the swords at his sides.

But Jordan blinked, looked around, and said, "The Arachnade Tribes have been doing well. Food is plentiful, and there is plenty of space. Nothing is unwell; everybody is happy."

He started walking down, black and yellow-banded legs working in unison. "That is all."

**I've been so, unbelievably happy about writing this. Smiling all day, and I've only worked on this. So excited; I can't wait to write more.**

**Things will be explained in the next chapter, so tell me all your questions. Sorry about shoving all eighteen characters onto you guys. I really had no other option.**

**But I hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading, everyone. You guys are awesome readers. I love you all.**

**-Cold**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three - Worm**

"Jordan, can we talk?"

The Arachnade paused and looked over at Seto. There was a subtle, slight shake of his head and a twitch of his lips.

And Seto understood fully:

_Not now. I know what happened. Just let me play it off as being oblivious._

So Seto gave a slight nod back, then pushed himself off the rock and into the water. Husky was lying on the shore, out of the water and waiting for his blue and orange-striped tiger shark tail to dry. He sat up on his elbows and called, "Hey Seto, are you leaving with me?"

Seto shook his head and said, "No. I'm going to leave with Jordan."

"Oh, okay... Well, wanna hunt later?"

"Sure, we can do that," Set answered, and smiled at his companion.

They had known each other since birth, and were nearly inseparable. It had been no big surprise that, when Seto had become King of the Ocean, he had appointed Husky as his right-hand man.

"So there was this really beautiful she-Naga that I saw the other day," Sky said loudly, catching the two aquatic Mythics' attention. "And I said to her, "Hey, I've got this whole temple to myself later tonight. Wanna hang?" And guess what she did!"

"What?" Ty asked with an amused smirk, arms crossed. "What'd she say?"

"She said _no_!" Sky shouted, tail rattling once and his arms flying out in exasperation. "Like, who says no to a king?"

"Sky, you aren't a king. You're just their Shaman."

"Still, I have a whole temple. And besides, it gets lonely," Sky whined, crossing his arms and glaring down at his amulet—which was the bane of his existence. "I mean, I can't even take this stupid thing off, or I 'sever my ties to the underworld' or whatever..."

Ty snorted and shook his head, fangs poking out of his upper lip as he grinned. It was well-known that the Naga Tribe was the fourth most in-tune to nature and the underworld. The Merpeople were the first, fiddling with magic and all sorts of things. Arachnades were second best, and then the Jackals were in third.

"You should not take that for granted," Ian said suddenly, not even facing them. One of his ears twitched and he turned his head just slightly, blue eyes narrowing. "The underworld is very important."

"Pfft, _sure_ it is. All that's there are some stupid red rocks and lava," Sky said with a wave of his hand, rolling his eyes from behind his shades.

Ian's eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly, and Sky fell silent. The Thirteenth was an unlucky Mythic; they were known for their uncontrollable anger, and their very well-hidden strength. One could easily snap someone's spine in half, even though they were tall and lanky; their limbs looking as if someone had stretched them during creation. But they were deadly, and few could control their rage.

But then again, Sky could turn things to stone. He was fairly certain that he was superior to the Jackals.

"Guys, don't fight now," Ethan called, hovering in the sky in his bat form. "The meeting just ended. Can't we go once where nobody gets hurt?"

"I guess," Sky muttered, and turned away. But much to his embarrassment, he felt his tail give a slight rattle; Ian's gaze never left the back of his head.

"Jason, I need to ask something of you," Jordan said quietly. The Wolf stopped and nodded up at the Arachnade, panting in the heat.

"Yeah?"

"Can you get one of your Shamans to find out what is happening to the Bear Tribe's food source? It's unlike the mountains to be cruel to you two."

Jason nodded, pausing to sit down and scratch behind his ear. "Anything else, Jordan?"

Jordan paused, staring at the Wolf. There was nothing to be revealed in Jason's startling blue eyes, but Jordan could tell by how the Wolf tensed every time he moved that Jason was wary.

"Yes, actually," Jordan said, and twisted around. He reached into the bag that was strapped to his thorax. He pulled out a roll of paper, then held it out to the Wolf. Jason's ears pricked up in curiosity, but they quickly fell when Jordan said, "It is for your father. Only his eyes can see it."

Jason nodded and stood, shaking his fur. He reared back onto his hind legs, front paws becoming human hands for a moment so he could take the scroll. He quickly put it in the smooth netting that was strapped to his stomach. "Alright, I can do that."

With that, the Wolf fell back to his four feet and gave a slight bow, then turned tail and ran over to Ryan, barking. "Come on, let's go."

Ryan nodded, going down and shifting into his Bear form. He roared farewell and lumbered away, accompanied with Kermit. The Crocodile was slinking along beside him, unnatural bright green coloring blending into the vibrant grass. Jason howled, running after them.

Sky yawned and stretched his hands in the air, tail coiling as he stretched. "Well, I better get home. They're probably wondering why I'm not back yet."

"I'm going with you," Ethan said, jumping into the air and hovering.

"Me too," Ty added, standing up from his rock. He shuffled his wings, tugging at his shirt. "I'm meeting a pack further out, so I'll just stick you guys."

Sky nodded and started slithering away, saying goodbye as he passed people. Ty had the courtesy to give a bow to Jordan, confusion and wariness glimmering in his rusty eyes. Ethan didn't even say goodbye, which was nothing new, and flew above Sky. Ty walked at first, then took off into the air with a strong pump of his dark wings.

"Well," Bodil called, and clapped his hands. He bounced up and continued with, "I've gotta go, too. We need to prepare for that storm."

He gestured towards the growing clouds, making Simon and Baki look up as well.

The Manticore rumbled and shook his snowy pelt, black eyes glittering. "There's something wrong with that oncoming storm," he muttered, and glanced over at Simon.

The Chimera nodded, dark blue eyes narrowed. "I agree. You can stay with us tonight if you want, Baki. I know how far away the savannas are."

Baki paused, then smiled and said, "Thank you, friend. I was not looking forward to walking home in the rain."

The Manticore started padding after Bodil, who was already halfway up the mountain. Simon followed his Mythic cousin, rumbling slightly. "Goodbye, everybody." He nodded at Jordan as he passed.

Jordan nodded back, but continued on his way over to Seto. Husky had already left with Mitch, Jerome, and Bashur. The only people left were Seto, Jordan, Ant, Dawn, and Ian.

The jackal stood, giving Jordan a slight nod, and started walking away. A golden scythe suddenly formed in his hand, materializing out of thin air, and he used it as a walking stick. Ant snorted at Dawn, one foot stomping.

"Look, bird, I don't want to argue with you. I don't care _who _gets the tree, as long as you guys aren't making nests in the darn thing." With that, the Centaur nickered and turned around, trotting away from a ruffled Dawn. She cawed at him in anger, feathers fluffing up. Then she seemed to realize she had an audience, and quickly smoothed her pink and purple feathers down, taking off into the air with a strong pump of her large wings.

Seto sighed and shook his head, brushing back brown hair. He dragged himself out of the water, pulling on his robes while he still had his tail. "I can't believe you can stand everyone."

"Oh, I can't," Jordan answered, grabbing his sandals from the ground and handing them to the merman, "But I take my anger out on other things."

"Why do you do it?" Seto asked, rolling onto his back once he was fully out of the water.

"Why? Because I'm King of the Beasts. I think the better question is why I _still_ do it. And even I can't answer that." Jordan smiled slightly and sat down next to Seto, legs curling up. "So you wanted to talk?"

"It was about earlier," Seto replied, running a purple-scaled hand over his tail. He sighed and scratched at the fins growing from just below his elbow. The purple scales traveled up a little ways past it, then melted into his grey skin; just like his tail. "I could tell that you aren't ignorant towards it. What happened?"

Jordan paused for a moment, screwing his scepter into the ground so it would stick out of the earth. Finally, he said, "I don't know, honestly. I was just walking up to give this stupid report like every month, but then... Then this _thing _took over was as if someone had thrown me into a black room, and I couldn't feel my body. I heard the thing talking, about the Darkness, but I couldn't stop it. It was as if something had sucked all my life energy away, and had left me to die in the dark..."

Seto hummed, running a thumb over one of the sharp prongs on the trident. "What is this Darkness?"

"That is what I'm concerned about," Jordan murmured, "I have no idea. I feel... I feel as if I _should _know, like it was something that I _used _to know. But when I think too much about it, it escapes me..."

Seto nodded in understanding, and suddenly he realized that the same feeling was twisting around inside his head. "Like a butterfly that's just above your reach," he muttered.

"_Exactly_," Jordan said, then paused. His lips twisted into a frown and he added, "But more like a wasp."

Seto's tail suddenly shortened, finally dry, and split into two legs. He sighed and hefted his trident, shifting. "Well, let's get going."

"You need help?"

"No, no, I'm... Alright, just to get up."

Jordan smiled and stood, grabbing Seto by the shoulders and hefting him onto his feet. "There you go."

"Thank you," Seto muttered, leaning against the trident. "I hate these things. Why do I need legs to walk?"

"I don't know, Seto," Jordan said with an amused smile. "I don't know."

[...]

After a few hours of traveling, Seto was about to collapse.

He felt as if he took one more step forward, he would, so he didn't. He stopped and leaned against a tree, calling, "H-hey Jordan, wait up."

Jordan stopped and looked back, making a noise of surprise. "Seto, are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's just these legs. Wearing me out," Seto said, "I can't walk as long and as far as I wish I could."

Thunder rumbled overhead and Seto's head snapped up. "Oh, crap. Jordan, we need to go. I can't get wet."

Jordan nodded and started walking again, offering an arm for support. He knew Seto was weak when he was in his human form; it was a disability, yes, but fish weren't meant to live out of the water.

Seto gratefully took his arm, half-limping half-walking alongside him. "So how's the family?"

Jordan smiled slightly at the change of subject and said, "Good, good. The children won't stop fighting, but that's fine by me. They need to learn how to survive."

"When are they going to start training?"

"Another few months," Jordan said, and huffed. "The house will finally be kept clean."

Seto chuckled and shook his head. "I still don't get why you make train them to fight at the age of seven. If I had any say about it, they'd all be learning how to use magic."

"We are different than you fish," Jordan said, grinning when Seto scowled at him. "And besides, why waste two souls if there are battles to be had?"

"You and your bloodthirstiness," Seto muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Well, at least we aren't as bad as the Nagas."

Seto chuckled at that and nodded, letting go of Jordan's arm and using his trident instead.

"You know, speaking of the Nagas," he said after a moment, casting a sideways glance up to Jordan, "You know who that elder was that Sky said passed away?"

Jordan nodded, and his slight smile fell back to the flat line he always wore. "It is Sky's grandfather, I am sure. I went to pay my respects a few days ago. The similarities couldn't have been a coincidence."

"I figured as much," Seto said, and the two fell into a respectful silence.

But then thunder cracked in the sky, and the first drop of cold rain fell on Jordan's nose. He blinked and wiped a hand over it on instinct, then looked up at the sky. "Well, I guess we-"

Seto cried out suddenly, desperately wiping his hand across his arm. A raindrop had fallen on him, and he knew what that meant. Not a second later, he fell over and his legs merged together. He scowled, tail smacking the ground in annoyance. "Great."

Jordan laughed at him, turning around to watch him struggle.

"It's not funny," Seto snapped, but a smile was tugging at his lips. It was rare for Jordan to laugh, ever since he became the official King. The Merman remembered how Jordan used to laugh a lot, when he was little. But then he grew up.

Everybody grew up, actually. They all grew into their own responsibilities.

"Here, let me help you."

"What, are you going to carry me?"

"Unless you want me to drag you."

Seto thought for a moment, then lifted his torso up from the prickly ground of twigs, dirt, and grass. "Fine. Just don't drop me."

Jordan shuffled for a moment, then bent down and picked him up, one hand under his tail and then the other under his arms. Seto held his trident tightly, keeping it out of the way of Jordan's legs.

"Not a word of this to anyone."

"My lips are sealed."

[...]

"So then she was like, 'Uh, you're a shaman and shamans can't have a mate', and then I'm all like 'Are you kidding, girl? I can give you gems, or emeralds.' (Because that, by the way, is the way to a she-Naga's heart. They love them to death.) But she _declined._ And then- Oh, it's raining."

TY let out a long breath of relief when Sky actually stopped talking. The naga was his best friend and all, but by the _gods_ could he talk. "Yeah, it's raining."

Ethan was sitting on Ty's back, right between his wings. He couldn't fly very well in the rain; his echolocation was a crucial thing that allowed him to see in his bat form, and the rain would screw with it.

"Well, that's a bummer." Sky frowned at the dark clouds, swallowing past the twisting in his instincts that said something was _wrong._

"Guys," Ethan said quietly, "Do you feel that too?"

"I was hoping it was just me," Ty muttered, scratching at the base of one of his horns. "But yeah, something's wrong."

"The jungle's just up ahead. We can all stay at my place," Sky offered, not taking his eyes off the clouds.

They were going over a field, which would normally glow golden in the sunlight. But now it was grey and almost... dead-looking. But the trees of the jungle sprung up from the ground ahead of them, promising shelter from the rain

"Can you figure out what's wrong, Sky?"

"Yeah, I probably could." Sky sighed and subconsciously rubbed his amulet. "I don't know if I want to; there's already some pretty bad vibes from the plants."

Ty reached down, trailing a hand across the golden, waist-high grass. "Might as well try."

Sky shrugged, leaning forward to pick up the pace. He slithered over a rock, pausing to look up at the sky again. "Strange clouds, though."

"I have to agree," Ethan replied, squinting up at the sky.

"You're half blind though," Ty teased, and Ethan growled at him. "But yeah, really weird clouds."

The clouds were dark black and grey, churning around as if they would drop down into a twister. But they didn't. They stayed up in the sky, pelting them with rain and striking the ground with lightning.

"The Sun must be angry at us for something," Ethan murmured. Sky rolled his eyes, waving a hand. "Nah, he's probably angry at the humans. They always find some way to screw nature up."

"Yeah, like that one time with the Core," Ty put in, earning him a confused glance from the Naga.

"What time? I've never heard of them reaching _that _far into the world."

"Well, this one old Dragoness was telling me the other day. Poor, blind old woman. I think she must have been a shaman when she was young." Ty gave a shrug and continued, "Anyways, she kept babbling about an old doom. Always repeated, 'Humans' fault, humans' fault' as if we didn't know that already... But then, just a few days ago, she actually seemed to come to her senses. She grabbed my arm as I was walking by and said, 'They found the Core in the old days. Don't let them find it again.' Freaked me out, but I don't see any way the humans could get back to the center."

"Well, don't they have tools for that kind of stuff?" Ethan asked.

Sky shook his head and answered, "No. Most of the Tribes who live near humans destroy all their machines and stuff, so they can't get very far with anything."

Ethan hummed, huddling closer to Ty's back and folding his ears down. But suddenly, he jerked up and twisted around to look at the distant mountains they had come from. "That sounded like Jason."

The other two stopped and listened. And there it was: a howling of a wolf. It rose up and down in waves, piercing and loud even though it was miles away.

"Yeah, that's Jason alright," Ty said, turning around to face the mountains. "Why would he...?"

The howl stopped, then started again. It seemed closer, though. This one didn't last as long, but the next howl told them that Jason was running. From what or who, they couldn't tell, but they knew he was running.

Sky started forward, springing away and slithering as fast as he could across the ground. Ty jumped inot the air and pelted after him, oblivious to the rain.

Jason suddenly burst out of the tree, white fur clumped with rain and mud. He ran wildly, howling as loud as he could. He was running... in fear.

And suddenly, the other Mythics knew why.

A beast was soon to follow Jason out of the forest, screeching wildly. It was a horrible thing; all made of inky black worm-like shadows that writhed and twisted over its almost-shapeless body. It ran forward on legs that would shoot out of the cluster whenever needed, sometimes growing off its back. It had two red eyes staring out of the front; both were trained on the wolf ahead of it.

Sky hissed and shuddered at the twisted presence that suddenly filled his mind. His tail rattled threateningly, and he coiled up on instinct. Then, an idea shot through his head. He lifted himself higher out of the grass and waved. "Jason, get over here!"

The wolf turned, snarling. Sky gasped as he caught sight of his friend's face. The Wolf's once bright white fur was stained a dark red of blood, and he was desperately trying to shake off the same shadows that the other beast was infected with.

Rage started pooling in Sky's stomach. Nobody hurt his friends.

_Nobody._

And if they did, they wouldn't live to see another _second._

The Naga turned to the beast, bristling. Jason pelted past him, nearly tripping over Sky's tail, which was rattling a warning.

The beast just roared at the Naga and charged forward, red eyes blind with rage. Sky growled, reaching up and ripping off his shades. His hair sprang up suddenly, turning and twisting together and forming snakes. The creatures turned towards the shadow beast as it charged, hissing.

And the beast jerked, slowing to a stop like an unoiled robot. And from around its eyes, grey crept out across its body. The beast had stopped now, frozen half-stride. It stared at Sky emotionlessly, red eyes murky and pupilless and blinded with rage. But soon enough, they grew foggy and turned the color of stone.

"Don't messsss with my friendsss," Sky hissed, and slid his shades back onto his nose. The snakes that made up his hair fell, dropping back into his curly brown locks.

He snapped his fingers and watched as the beast crumbled to dust. "Nobody."

* * *

**Angry Sky is angry.**

**Don't mess with angry Sky.**

**Hope you all enjoyed! Thanks for reading. Leave a review, tell me what you think. I love all of you, stay awesome.**

**-Cold**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four - Idea**

Jason stumbled maybe three more steps before he collapsed.

He wobbled on his feet, then fell over onto his side. "R-Ryan is- he's- And Kermit-"

"Hey, hey, relax. Jason, just breathe." Ty knelt down next to the giant wolf, setting one hand on a heaving flank. "We'll find them. Ethan, can you-"

"Yeah, I can." Ethan jumped off his back and snapped open his wings, quickly torn away with the wind. He sent out a few clicks, ears flaring, and darted away.

Sky slithered over, curling into a loose bundle. He quickly started to tear off the shadows on Jason's face, hissing at the burning feeling they left on his hands. But the worm-like things were quick to dissipate once they were off, melting away into a pool of reddish shadows.

Jason let out a pained whine, clawing at the ground. He struggled to stay still, eyes clenched shut. "Th-they're going to- I need-"

"Jason, listen to me," Sky said, tearing up a clump of grass and scrubbing it across Jason's black and red-stained fur. "Ryan and Kermit will be okay. Ethan's going to find them. You need to calm down. The thing's dead now, alright?"

"B-b-but."

Jason whined, one ear folding flat. He took short, rapid breaths, and slowly opened his eyes.

"There. See? You're all better." Sky sat back and smiled, but it was quickly wiped away when Jason whined again.

"Sky... Sky, why can't I see anything?"

Sky shrunk away from Jason's question, coiling closer to himself. "Wh-what do you mean?"

Jason panted, blinking slowly. His head fell back to the ground, eyes half-open. "Wh-who got rid of th-the sun?"

"Sky, I think..." Ty didn't have to continue.

Whatever had attacked Jason had blinded him.

[...]

It grew dark surprisingly fast.

So fast, it was like someone had cast a shadow over the entire forest.

Jordan stopped and looked around, cyan eyes narrowing. Then, he whispered, "There's something out there."

Seto shifted and glanced around, straining his ears. The silence was suddenly deafening; not a bird chirped, and not a leaf rustled. "It's too quiet," Seto answered in a hushed tone.

And suddenly, the tree next to them exploded. Darkness swarmed out of it, clumping together into a massive, shapeless form. Jordan cried out and jumped, backing away from the worm-like shadows. "What _is _that?"

An 'arm' from the thing shot out, spindly fingers wrapping around one of Jordan's legs.

And it _burned. _Jordan screeched in surprise, rearing back and kicking it away. He couldn't grab his sword, but he didn't think that would really make much difference.

"Jordan, Jordan run!"

And Jordan ran. He turned and didn't look back, bounding and leaping away from the monster. His leg stung with fire every time he put weight on it, but the pain was ignored. He could hear the bes running after them, crashing over trees and destroying anything in its way.

"By the gods," Seto whispered, staring at the beast in horror. "Jordan, it's killing _everything._"

Every time the beast touched the grass or earth, black would seep out. It looked a lot like the withering effect, but the way the grass seemed to turn into a dull, lifeless grey told Seto otherwise. It was as if it was sucking all the energy and life out of anything it touched.

Jordan tensed and paused, then jumped up out of the trees. He sprung along the branches, running to the valley. They'd be safe there.

If only they could _reach _it before the beast got them.

[...]

"We need to call everybody back together," Sky said to Ty later. The two were sitting atop Sky's temple, watching the moon rise into the dark night.

"I agree," Ty muttered, glancing over his shoulder at Ethan, who was curled in a tight ball, hanging upside-down from a branch.

The Bat had said nothing when he had returned with Ryan and Kermit. He had just given this tiny shake of his head, and had instantly gone to hide beneath his wings.

Kermit and Ryan had been relatively quiet, too. Neither had been hurt by whatever-it-was, but seemed to be shell-shocked. Ty could count on one hand how many times they had talked.

"Do you think anybody else had a run-in with the beast?" Sky asked suddenly, crossing his arms.

"I hope not," Ty said, leaning against the pole that grew up from the middle of the pyramid-like temple. "But I don't know. There weren't any other distress signals, or anything."

"Well, not everybody can howl like Jason, Ty."

The Dragon nodded and sighed, sliding down so he could sit. He looked up at the sky, frowning in thought.

Then, Sky said, "I'm going to go see what's up."

Ty raised an eyebrow at this, brushing some hair out of his face. "Okay. I'll be here with Ethan."

"No... No, you guys go get some sleep. I might be a while."

Ty could have _sworn _that Sky's amulet glowed brighter when he said that.

The Naga slithered away, going back into the temple. He glanced over at Ryan, who was sleeping near a corner, curled up into a large, brown ball. Kermit was lying in the pool that was in the center of the temple, not asleep but watching. Sky could feel his dark green eyes follow him as he went down the slope that led to the lower level.

The walls around him were carved and painted form past shamans, all telling of ancient stories and beasts. There were wars and times of peace painted on the walls, but Sky went right past them. He ignored the one wall telling of the Great War—where humans and Mythics had gone against each other in bloody battles. In the end, neither side had won.

And Sky paused at the end of the curving hallway, which went around in circles until it reached the center of the temple. There, a wall stood in front of him. The only picture on it was a handprint, with a glowing amethyst in the middle.

Sky lifted his hand, glancing around once upon instinct. He set it into the imprint, closing his eyes and muttering, "Show me the way."

The stone rumbled, then slowly slid down into the floor. After the wall, there was a slope. It wound down in a spiral, much like stairs, but was dark and unlit.

Sky grabbed a torch that was hanging on the wall, going down the tunnel. He heard the wall grind close behind him, but it was ignored. He went down, deeper and deeper into the earth. The temperature dropped and the air became stale. Sky reached up, pushing his shades up onto his head so he could see better.

His eyes were unlike any human's, nearly glowing. They had no whites, and were a vivid teal except for the bright, sun-colored yellow around the slitted pupil. There was a hidden warning, though—telling of death for someone to stare into them.

Sky despised his eyes.

Soon, the stairs opened up into a giant cavern. Sky held the torch up, squinting into the darkness. Great stalagmites twisted up to meet their brethren, connecting into large pillars of dark rock. Sky paused and glanced around, then lowered his torch into a nearby puddle.

For a moment, everything went silent. The dripping to his left fell, and even his breathing seemed to have stopped.

But then, slowly, the cavern's ceiling lit up. Little crystals—glowing with purple, greens, and blues—blinked into existence. Sky watched them light up with a slight smile. It never grew old, watching those things. They were like stars forming in the night, twinkling with otherworldly magic.

Sky dropped the stick of the torch into a pile of old sticks and logs nearby, then slithered past it. He followed the crystals down to a pool. The water glowed deep blue, almost like the color of his eyes. He curled near the pool, and gave a bow to the multicolored, man-sized crystal. It grew up from a dark rock that sat in the middle of the crystal pool, untouched and sacred.

Sky let out a soft, hissing sigh and said, "Ancestors. I have come to request answers."

There was always a sort of feeling that took over him when talking to the crystal. It was a warm feeling, like a loving embrace from a mother holding a newborn. It was soothing and gentle, clearing his mind of the worries that had been plaguing it.

There was a slight rumble—like that of someone humming, and Sky sat up from his bow. He curled into neat coils, clasping his hands together in front of him and closing his eyes.

Now, he knew he could _never _tell anyone about how he 'communicated with the underworld'. It was law; Shamans of all tribes couldn't reveal the secret. Nagas had only one Shaman, which in Sky's mind was silly. If he were to die without an apprentice, then his tribe would crumble.

Nobody had stuck out to him as an apprentice yet. Sure, there had been people dragging their children to him to see, but he had turned them down. Someday, someone would come. He would be patient.

Sky let out a long breath, feeling as if his mind was slowly being pulled away from his body. It was as if they were cutting his ties to the real world, plucking away the strings that kept him grounded.

But then the cold started creeping in.

For a moment, Sky looked up to find a sun. He glanced around, and he was in a beautiful field. He realized it was right outside the valley. But it was eerily quiet. Not a bird sung and not a leaf rustled.

And suddenly, one of those _things _burst out of the trees nearby. It howled in anger, rearing back and charging straight at him. Sky tensed in panic, watching as it ran at him.

But it passed right through his body, as if he wasn't even there.

Breathless, Sky turned to watch at what it was charging at. Horror choked him at the sight of Seto, desperately trying to grab his trident, which was sitting a few feet from his fingertips. Then there was Jordan nearby, picking himself up from the ground. Half of his torso looked black and red with _whatever the thing was; _he had to pull a clump of the darkness from one of his legs. But then he snatched up his longsword and ran forward, jumping up on topof the thing and stabbing its head.

The beast screeched, attention drawing away from Seto just for a moment. It tried to snap at Jordan, legs spurting out of its body wildly. Jordan slashed one of, then stabbed down again.

Sky just stood there, paralyzed. The cold feeling kept growing in his heart, gripping it tightly into an icy ball. He shivered, one hand reaching up to settle above his heart. It quickly spread through his body, slowly freezing it. Sky squirmed and coiled into a bundle, looking over at Jordan.

The beast was on the ground, twitching horribly. Jordan staggered off of it, yanking his sword away and stabbing it once more for good measure. The beast twitched, then slowly started to melt. It sunk into the ground, worm-like shadows wriggling in what seemed like pain. It left a horrible, blackish-red stain in the now-dead grass.

"Gods, Jordan, are you alright?"

"Yeah, y-yeah," Jordan said, legs collapsing beneath him. "I'm fine. Just a little winded."

The sun was slowly starting to be covered up with clouds, Sky noticed. He looked up, frowning at the horrible storm that was passing over. The clouds grew darker and darker until they were almost black, and the other two Mythics' voices faded.

And then the darkness truly began. Slowly, the clouds turned black. It didn't stop until all the light had gone, shading the world with the darkest of nights it had ever seen. Sky glanced over to where Seto and Jordan had been, only to find them gone.

The valley was gone, actually. What had once been trees and mountains was a bare, dead plain of grass. It was dead and brown, but what really unsettled Sky were the deep patches of blood staining the field.

Sky curled closer to himself, looking back to the dark clouds. It was almost unbearably cold, creeping through his brains like chunks of ice.

And suddenly, out of the pitch black of the sky, appeared two eyes. They were a deep, endless crimson, and had no pupils. They stared down at him, narrowing, and suddenly a mouth appeared out of the darkness. A long, slinky red tongue licked over what must have been lips, then went to swipe across the large, shiny black teeth lining the mouth.

"I am coming for you," a dark, resonating voice boomed.

And then the Darkness struck.

[...]

Sky awoke with a scream. He jolted up, scrambling to heft himself off the stone ground. Heart pounding in fear, he looked around.

He was in the cavern. It was safe; there was no Darkness to be seen. He lifted a hand, wrapping his fingers around the glowing amulet. It was hot, glowing a bright, almost hot pink color.

Sky sat there for a moment, then started forward. He raced up to the temple, calling, "Guys! Guys, we need to get to the valley _right now._ Everyone, get up! Get out of bed!"

Kermit, who had been peacefully sleeping in the small pool, jerked awake. He shifted into his half-human form and yawned, stretching his webbed fingers into the air. "Wh-what? Sky, what's-"

"Seto and Jordan are in trouble. We need to get there _now._"

Ryan was the next to stir. He did so silently, but his dark brown eyes glittered with confusion. He sat up, shifting, and walked over to Sky. "Wait, what kind of trouble?"

"One of the beasts," Sky answered breathlessly, slithering over to one of the four hallways that branched away from the middle room. He went to the first door he saw and beat on it. "Whoever's in there, get up!"

"Gods, Sky, what's the big deal?" The door was opened by a grumpy Ty, who looked like he had just been going through a hurricane and not sleep. But then he yelped and quickly moved his gaze. "Sky, your glasses."

Sky made a noise of surprise, hand quickly snapping his shades back onto his nose. "Sorry," he quickly apologized. "But Ty, get Ethan. We need to leave. Like, _now_."

"Alright, alright. I'll go get him."

[...]

"Jordan, are you _sure _you're okay?"

Jordan nodded, face lifted to the sky. "Yep. I'm fine, Seto."

"I'm gonna call the others. Is that alright?" Seto asked, kneeling one his tail and leaning against his trident.

Jordan opened one eye to look over at him, gently rubbing the burn marks that wrapped around his torso. The beast had snatched him up earlier, burning him badly. And it still stung horribly, making him want to puke, but he held the pain back. He sighed and looked up at the night sky, closing his eyes. "Yes. Call all of them. That beast concerns everybody."

Seto nodded and tapped the end of the trident against the ground. Water formed a pillar, reaching to the clouds. With another tap, it sprung into a bright, glowing aqua color. A shockwave flew out from around it, flying across the sky.

Seto set his trident down and dragged himself up onto the beach. "At least this valley's enchanted."

Jordan nodded in agreement, thankful that the valley was protected. Long ago, the Mythics had cast a spell over the valley. It was a safe haven; evil couldn't set foot into it.

Rocks suddenly bounced down the mountain and a few splashed into the pond. The two Mythics turned to see a Satyr bounding down the slope with a Manticore and a Chimera close on his tail.

"What happened?" Bodil called, jumping and sliding down the rocky slope. "What's- Jordan, are you-"

"I'm _fine_," Jordan snapped, and forced himself to his feet. He picked up his sword, clasping it to the belt around his waist. "Are you guys okay?"

"Other than the storm? Yeah, we're fine," Baki answered, frowning at Jordan. "What happened? Forest fire?"

There was true concern in the Manticore's voice. Jordan understood, knowing that his tribe lived in a forest that was on the way to the ocean.

"No, not a forest fire," Seto answered, though there was a glimmer of worry in his eyes. Fire was not something he enjoyed. "Something _much _worse."

"Does it have to do with, ah, the... Um, the thing?" Bodil asked, gesturing with his elbow to Jordan.

The Arachnade rolled his eyes and said, "I know what happened. But yes, I have a feeling it has something to do with-"

"Oh gods, you guys are okay! We saw the distress signal, and then that beast was trying to kill you guys." Sky slowed to a stop, doubling over and gasping for air. "I was worried."

"Ha!" Bodil barked, "That's new."

"Shut it, goat."

"How do you know of the beast?" Seto asked, frowning. "You weren't here."

"Well-"

"Save it for later," Jordan said with a wave of his hand, eyes flicking over to the other Mythics who were running over. He caught sight of Jason, who was in his human form. The Wolf climbed down from Ryan's back, one hand still on the Bear's shoulder. "What happened to-"

"Something attacked Ryan, Kermit and I," Jason answered, ducking his head so his white hair would fall in front of his eyes. "I managed to bring its attention away from them..."

"Did it- Was it mad of worms?" Seto asked, propping himself up with his elbows. "And it had two red eyes, right?"

"I... I don't know. I just ran," Jason confessed. "It attacked me, and I had to turn and run."

"Ethan found us later," Kermit said, shifting into a human form and sitting down on a rock. "He looked shell-shocked, as if he had seen a ghost. Hasn't said a word to anybody."

The Bat was hanging from a nearby tree, wings folded closely to his body. He made it clear he didn't want to talk.

"Well, he'll need to snap out of it," Jordan said, crossing his arms. "Weakness is not something we need right now."

"Jordan," Seto started, but the Arachnade shook his head.

"I have a feeling that these peaceful times are gone," Jordan muttered, looking down at the marks wrapping around his body. They were fading quickly, and the pain had lessened. "It's just too convenient; your tribe's illness, the food for the Bear Tribe disappearing, those attacks... And this storm. They're all too much of a coincidence."

"Well, what do you think it is?" Ryan asked, shifting into his human form. He took Jason by the shoulder, leading him over to a rock to sit on.

For a moment, nobody answered. Then Sky said, in a very small voice, "It's the Darkness. In my vision, it called itself the Darkness."

"The name suits it," Baki muttered, ripping up long grass with his claws.

Bodil bounced up onto a rock, hooves clicking against it. "This is a joke, right? Or a dream, maybe?"

"Doubt it, but good to keep that optimism." Sky shrugged, slithering over to a tree. He reached up and hauled himself onto a thick branch, winding around it so he could hang down.

"Maybe it has something to do with the humans," Seto supplied.

Jordan frowned slightly and shrugged, taking a step before settling down. "Maybe. I mean, I wouldn't doubt it. Humans are stupid and screw everything up. Think they released a curse onto the world?"

"Knowing how dumb humans are, probably," Jason put in. he raised a hand to brush away a lock of hair, brilliant blue eyes staring at nothing. "Should we go 'ask' the nearest village?"

"I'm not really keen on getting my head blown off by their newest invention," Ty muttered, crossing his arms. "Those fire-spitters are more dangerous than Ant's archers."

"That's saying something," Seto put in.

Jordan hummed and rubbed his chin, murmuring, "Well, we could lure some into this valley."

"How are we gonna do that?" Bodil asked, rubbing one of the horns that twisted out of his head.

"Well, humans love three things," Jordan replied. He held up one finger. "One, women. Two, money. And three, power."

"We have _none _of those, though," Seto said, flipping his tail into the air to splash the Arachnade.

"Wait!" Sky cried suddenly, holding out his hands. "I got an idea. But I have a feeling one of you isn't going to like it."

* * *

**So what might Sky's plan be?**

**Hope you enjoyed, guys, and thanks for reading. Leave a review, tell me what you think. Stay awesome.**

**-Cold**


	5. Chapter 5

**-Siren-**

"So what is this... plan?" Ant asked, confused, as he watched Seto try to struggle away from Dawn. "And why is Seto...?"

"See," Sky said, "We need to lure some human men into this valley, because we need answers as to what this 'Darkness' thing is. And, though I think my vision was pretty scary, we need to see if they have a way to stop it. So, we're going to-"

"Dawn, let go of my hair! God, bird, get off me!"

"Ack! Just stop struggling Seto, it isn't like it's permanent."

Ant crossed his arms and frowned. "So you guys sent out a distress signal for _this_? Can I leave, now?"

"No." The Naga shook his head, clasping his hands behind his back. "Because we'll need your help getting the humans under control."

"Let Ian or Jordan do that."

Sky sighed, tail flicking in slight annoyance. "Ian would probably eat them."

"And that would affect me... how?" Ant shot back.

"Look, mule," Sky said, using the nickname Jordan used, "If you want to prance back to your fields like a finicky show-pony, then be my guest. Or, you could stay here and help, and be a man instead of a mouse."

Ant made a noise at the back of his throat, scowl scrunching his features up. He stomped a foot and pointed at Sky, tapping his chest. "Listen here, worm, I-"

"You're being irrational and irresponsible," Sky crossed his arms, looking up at the Centaur. "At least you aren't in Seto's place."

Ant's finger slowly lowered and he heaved a sigh, looking over at the poor Merman.

Seto was beached on the land, desperately trying to shoo the Harpy away. But Dawn was relentless, feathers flying and feet outstretched. She latched onto one of Seto's arms, folded her wings in, and dropped. "Listen here, fish, I don't _care _if you don't want to wear this thing. Think of poor Husky. He had to get it."

And she held up a bikini, which was shaped out of black shells and made especially for Mermaids.

"Seto, that lady tried to beat me to death when I snagged it," Husky called from the pond, smirking as he swam in lazy circles. "You better appreciate that."

"But I- I'm not- Why are-" Seto was hopelessly at a loss for words, and could only try to shove Dawn away.

"It's only for a little bit, alright?" Dawn snapped, finally getting it around his chest. "And this isn't even half of your costume. Bodil's still getting the jewelry."

"I have to wear _jewelry_?" Seto cried, trying to squirm away. "Mermaids don't even _wear _jewelry!"

"So why does he need to wear that?" Ant asked, watching the Merman and Harpy with raised eyebrows.

Sky smirked and said, "Well, the plan is to have Seto be a beautiful, lovely siren that was washed this far inland by that massive storm we had a week ago. Ethan's going to be singing this song he learned from an actual siren, and it's going to lure the humans in. Bodil's gone to get some jewelry that his tribe has from the mountains, to add a little flare."

"There's one flaw in your plan," Ant said, arms crossed over his chest. He glanced around at everybody, who had turned up shortly after he had. They had all complained of the signal, but once they got the explanation things had settled down.

"What?"

"How are you going to get the humans' attention in the first place? What, are you going to walk right into their village?"

"That, my friend," Sky said, raising a hand and patting Ant's shoulder, "is where you come in."

[...]

"Can't believe I agreed to this," Ant muttered, watching the humans from behind a tree. "I'm going to kill Sky."

But then he remembered that at least _he _wasn't dressed as a girl, and his self-pity vanished.

Ant shook his head and sheathed his swords, taking a deep breath. This went against his basic training—charging at a group of armed humans was just asking for a broken leg. And he was not very keen on dying, either. That would put a damper on his day.

But Ant just steeled himself, and trotted out from behind the tree. He pretended he hadn't noticed the humans at first, reaching up and pulling down one of the tree branches that was heavy with fruit. He plucked one of the apples, taking a bite of it.

By now, he had the attention of all seven humans. They were gathered together in a clump, probably decided whether or not to go after him.

In Ant's peripheral vision, he saw them start to move away. The Centaur swallowed and frowned, knowing that, no matter what, he _had _to get them to chase him to the valley.

So he unsheathed his swords and stabbed them down into ground, also knowing that humans couldn't resist themselves.

Any human would instantly realize how much the swords were worth. Sure, they looked simple, but they were _not _simple. They were very high-class, made for the best fighter.

Ant pretended to take interest in another apple, dropping the other and reaching up to twist another off the branch. Normally, he would have been pigging out. Apples were, after all, his favorite food. But this time, he had a few things to worry about.

And those things were slowly trying to creep up on him.

Ant forced down a smirk and bit into the second apple, casting a backwards glance. There were four humans coming at him from one side, and three on the other. They either had eyes trained on him or the swords, which were sitting just out of his reach.

Ant snorted and stomped a foot, turning around to grab another apple. That was when he caught 'sight' of the humans. For a moment, he froze, then reached over and grabbed only one of his swords. But the humans charged, and Ant reared back onto his hind legs to dodge one of their own swords. He dropped back down and took off, running at a pace where the humans would be able to follow him.

And follow him they did. One of the men grabbed his other sword, eyes glinting with greed.

Ant ran for the valley, pretending to be short of breath or whatever to keep their interest. And though it stung his pride to run from those puny humans, he did it anyways.

The Centaur reached the valley and immediately swerved left, picking up his pace and speeding away to lose his followers.

The humans blundered into the valley with much less grace than he had, stumbling over one another.

"Where'd the beast go?" one of them shouted, hefting a long, iron-plated fire-spitter that could kill in one blast. "I could have used his hide for a coat."

"Yeah, so could I."

"I could use that other sword," the one with the first blade said, lifting it to admire the craftwork. "This thing is beautiful. It's very light, surprisingly. I can't believe that beast was stupid enough to leave it behind."

And then the singing started.

Ant spotted Ethan, who was hiding in a tree. He was making the song, being the one Mythic who could copycat anything he had ever heard. And then Ant saw Seto, who was sitting on a rock, seemingly 'oblivious' to the human men now staring at him.

Seto had a right to be embarrassed.

He was so decked out with gold and silver jewelry that it was enough to make even Ant wince in sympathy. But Ant had to hand it to him; he made a very _good _Mermaid.

One of the human men whistled, nudging the one next to him. "Hey, look at that!"

Seto flipped his tail, curling it slightly. He had a fan that Bodil had brought, which he used to cover half his face. When the humans noticed him, his lips twisted into a scowl. He cast a sharp, I'm-going-to-murder-you-and-your-family glare towards Sky, who was hiding away in the brush that surrounded the pond.

"Looks like we got ourselves something better than a coat," one of the men said with a grin, slinging his long, steel-plated gun over his back. "Hey, girly! Watcha doin' way out here, and not in the ocean where a wonderful pearl like you belongs?"

Seto was going to be sick.

He looked at them over the fan, and managed to bring his lips into a smile so his cheeks would rise. He turned slightly, just so they wouldn't see his chest.

The group started towards him, entranced by Ethan's copycat song and Seto's costume.

"Should we get them now?" Jerome whispered to Sky, watching the men.

The Naga shook his head, grinning his face off. "Nah, Seto's embarrassment is too good to pass up."

Jordan heaved a sigh and shifted, green blade gleaming in a spot of sunlight. "Let's not chance him getting killed. Come on, give the word."

Sky rolled his eyes, then rattled his tail quietly. He knew the other Mythics would hear it, even though it was softer than Ethan's song.

And then, with a cry, Mitch jumped out of the brush with a dagger held high. The men jumped and whirled; one managed to slide the fire-spitter off his back. He and two other men loaded the guns, then sat back and aimed.

But suddenly, there was an angry Harpy descending on them. They cried out as she snatched one of the fire-spitters, bringing it above the clouds and out of sight.

Bodil came bounding in, then. He jumped up and kicked one down, laughing all the while. "Can't catch me!"

The men still tried, of course. One of the seven managed to successfully load his gun and aim it. He pointed it at Bodil, one eye closing. His hand tightened around the grip, but suddenly there was a Scorpion in his way.

Mitch grabbed the gun and jerked it away just as the switch flicked down and lit whatever was inside.

The fire spit out of the end, the steel ball spiraling through the air and hitting a tree. The poor plant cracked, tipping over as the steel ball shot through it. The noise that came along with the shot had Mitch's ears ringing, and he was thankful that it hadn't hit him.

The Scorpion ducked, tail striking just next to the man. He jumped away, fire-spitter clattering to the ground. Mitch scowled at him, reaching over and throwing the man to the ground.

The Mythic quickly knocked the human out, beating his head with a rock that had been sitting nearby. Mitch looked around to find the rest of the group had taken everyone else down, and were dragging them into pile so Jerome and Ty could bind them together with ropes made of vines.

"Well," Sky said, dusting his hands off and slithering away from the men. "That went well."

A Mermaid's bikini suddenly smacked him in the face, earning snickers from his friends. He pulled it off and tossed it onto the humans, grinning. "Aw, come on Seto. It couldn't have been _that _bad."

The Merman glared at him, ripping his trident away from Husky's fingers and jumping into the deeper waters, leaving the jewelry on the rock. He didn't surface, but he made sure to send a wave of water towards Sky.

"Alright," Jordan said, setting one leg on one human, pinning him. "Let's get some answers."

"About time," Ian muttered, standing up. He dusted off the gold-colored cloth he wore to stay decent and held out a hand; his scythe materialized out of the air.

Ant galloped over with one of the fire-spitters in his hand, tossing it down on the ground. "They only had five of these."

"Which one do you think is the leader?" Sky asked, coiled into a tight bundle when one of the humans shifted.

"Are they even smart enough to _have _leaders?" Simon muttered to Baki. The two Mythic cousins were laying a little ways away in the shade of a tree. Bodil was sitting on a rock near them, using a small knife to carve a piece of wood.

"Probably not," the satyr said with a smirk, brushing a shard of wood off. "Knowing how small human brains are."

"They may be stupid, but they're always dangerous," Jordan muttered, glaring down at the men. "Never underestimate them."

"Eh." Bodil shrugged, glancing over at Ethan as he glided away from a tree. He waved, catching the Bat's attention.

Ethan flapped and swooped over, landing next to him. "How did I do?" he asked quietly, like always.

"Convincing," Bodil said, "Glad to see you're back to yourself. I mean, I get here and you're in this little ball..."

"Just had to think through a few things," Ethan said, shrugging his wings. "I'm fine now."

Bodil ignored the strange gleam in his red eyes.

One of the humans groaned suddenly, sitting up. He shook his head, blinking his eyes open. At first, he caught sight of Jordan's legs. His eyes traveled up and up, and he made a strange squeaking sound, shrinking back. "H-h-help..."

He was lifted by the collar of his shirt, feet dangling five feet from the ground.

"What have you humans done?" Jordan snarled, glaring him right in the eye.

"P-p-please," the man begged. "I have a wife and three kids."

Jordan huffed and tossed him to the ground. He backed away, crossing his arms.

"Here, let me try," Mitch said, picking up one of the fire-spitters and walking over. He set it on his shoulder, fingers wrapping around the grip. He aimed it at the human, who instantly shrunk back with another scared stutter. "What are you humans doing to the world?"

"D-d-don't shoot."

Mitch growled, eyes narrowing and tail bobbing threateningly. He shifted the gun on his shoulder, one finger moving up to settling against the button that would trigger the whole thing. "Don't tempt me, how about that?"

"Meep," the human squeaked, scooting back until he bumped into his comrades.

"Listen, human," Mitch said, "You're going to answer all my friend's questions. And if I think you're lying, then there are the other six of your pack. Got it?"

"G-got it."

* * *

**I had too much fun writing that, to be honest.**


	6. Chapter 6

**-Branching-**

"It's gone."

One of Ian's black ears twitched and he looked up, narrow blues eyes as blank as ever. "It's a tree, Jerome."

"It didn't deserve to be shot through with metal," the Monkey hissed at him, still sitting next to the tree that had taken the blow from the fire-spitter. Jerome turned and glared at him, brown eyes narrowing dangerously. "We plant trees. Humans destroy them, and they don't plant them back."

The Jackal just grunted, turning back to watch the others. They were all in an argument. Over what, he didn't know. But the Mythics arguing was nothing new, especially if it was over something not of any importance-

"No, we all stay here. It's the safest place."

"Then how are we going to protect our Tribes, Ant?" Jordan snapped, hand on the hilt of his sword. Ant had already drawn his, knuckles white from gripping it.

"We'll- We'll figure something out."

"I won't even be able to fit half my tribe in here," Simon added, looking over from his spot next to Baki. "And besides, the Satyrs hate anybody else but us being in this valley."

"It's true," Bodil called, stopping his one-sided conversation with Ethan to butt into their argument. "My Tribe won't like thousands of Mythics in here."

"Then what do we do?" Ant said, stomping a hoof in agitation. "I'm not about to set my Tribe into danger, just because of some stupid goats-"

"We aren't goats!" Bodil snapped suddenly, standing up.

"Well, it sure _looks _like you are."

"Guys," Jordan said, stepping into the middle of their soon-to-be war. "Not now. And besides, Ant, you aren't thinking about the Merpeople and Sharks. Only Seto and Husky can transform. How are we supposed to get them to the valley?"

Ant looked away, and sighed. His shoulders slumped in defeat and he muttered, "Whatever."

"But if what the humans said is true," Ethan said suddenly, flying into the air to be seen, "Then there are even more of those shadow beasts. They said one of the villages a few miles away had been wiped out, right?"

"... Right," Jordan said, frowning. He thought for a moment, then sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"Jordan, is now a bad time to tell you that Merpeople are dropping like flies?" Husky whispered, walking up to the Arachnade. He cast a glance over at Seto, who was still pouting on a rock.

Jordan turned to him, bristling. "He said they were sick, but..."

"I visited their tribe just before coming back. It... It didn't look good."

Jordan cast a glance at Seto, then looked back to the Shark. "What is it like?"

"... Death," Husky whispered, his skin taking on a deeper blue that he usually had when in his Shark form. "It looked like death."

[...]

In the end, they decided that each Tribe leader would take five women, fifteen men, and two children to the valley. And with a little help from Bashur, and Seto's control over water, they made the pond a lake.

"It looks like the storm's passed," Seto said, getting up when his tail dried into legs. He quickly pulled on his robes, propping himself up with his trident. "Ready to go, Husky?"

"Hang on, hang on," Husky scrambled further onto the grass. "These waves are still getting me."

His tail, a bright, sky blue striped with orange, was creating a small gouge in the soft grass. He laid there for a moment, impatiently tapping his fingers against the ground. "This sucks, Seto," he mumbled, leaning his chin against the other hand. "Why can't we just instantly transform, like Jason or whatever?"

The Merman shrugged and sat down in front of him, cross-legged. "Well-"

"Don't you dare give me some stupid excuse." Husky hefted himself up and turned around, wiping water from the dorsal fin that grew at the base of his tail. Then he went to his other fins, groaning in annoyance. "I hate this thing."

Seto simply shrugged, smirking slightly.

"I mean, it doesn't even fully disappear when I transform," the Shark whined, "Wish I was a Merman."

Seto snorted and stood, wobbling slightly. "You only want to be King."

Husky cast a yearning glance towards his trident, shrugging a blue shoulder. "Whatever."

Seto glanced over at Jason and Kermit, who were slowly making their way over to the two aquatic Mythics.

"This way, Jason," Kermit said, "To the right a bit."

The wolf was padding along with his nose to the ground and his tail gently brushing the Crocodile's back. His ears were forward, listening carefully, and his eyes stared at nothing. The white fur around his face was stained a dark, red-tinted black. The sight alone made Seto and Husky wince with sympathy.

Jason was obviously trying to be a good sport, and had taken his sudden blindness with ease. But many of them saw right through his strong façade.

Jason was scared. His tail would tuck between his legs whenever the strange shadow beasts were mentioned—which, apparently, the humans had no ties to. Though, it had taken a few kicks to the knees or stomach for them to finally spit it out that they had a few run-ins with the monsters.

"I need to ask you guys something," Jason said to a rock, though he was trying to talk to Husky and Seto. "I need a potion."

"A potion?" Seto asked, directing the Wolf's gaze with his voice. "What kind?"

"Speed three."

"Got it," Seto said, nodding. Then he paused and said, "I could... Ask the shamans if they could find a spell for your eyes-"

"No." Jason's ears twitched and he lifted his muzzle, staring right at the Merman. "I'm going to show those beasts that a wolf can still bite, even if it's blind."

"... Right."

"Finally!" Husky cried, and stood. He looked down at himself, pulling on the clothes that laid nearby. His tail, which grew from his lower back, swayed back and forth. Unlike Seto, who lost his tail for legs, Husky only grew legs, and his tail shrunk. It was rather uncomfortable, but he was able to walk much better than Seto could. "Alright, Mermaid, let's go."

Seto growled at this, adding a mental note to smack Husky for that later.

"You know, _blue-boy," _Seto shot back, walking along with him after saying goodbye to Jason and Kermit, "At least I don't live in a rock."

"It's a _ravine," _Husky growled, serrated teeth showing at the nickname. "An underwater ravine. And besides, the whirlpools keep us swimming when we're sleeping. Don't blame me that we can't breathe if we stop moving. Blame... Uh..."

"The Void created us all," Seto answered, gaze flicking to the clouds that were slowly moving away. "We're all made from darkness."

"Jeez, pessimistic much?"

"It's only the truth. You know, at least I'm not my father."

Husky shuddered at that, and hugged himself. His long nails dug into his skin, but didn't draw blood. "By the Moon, Seto, don't remind me."

"Will do," Seto murmured, getting los in thought.

Seto's 'father' had been a very smart Merman. He had led the Tribe through a war with some mutated Eels (courtesy of human contamination) and had come out victorious. He had raised three healthy sons, two of which joined the army. Though, the children were not blood-related. There had... been many more Mermaids than needed in his home. (Though, that _was _allowed in Seto's Tribe. It was custom to have at least two wives.) Seto's mother had died after childbirth.

But despite his great leading skills, Seto's father was deranged. He was always ranting about the 'end of the world' and how 'they would return to darkness, from which they came from'. And he didn't want his children to follow him into being King of the Ocean. He had been abusive. He had been insane.

"You know... That one time, when I saw him hit you, I never apologized for biting him," Husky said suddenly, brow furrowing at the memory.

Seto snorted and shook his head, "Too late now, unless you want to go down the Well after him."

"Think he's still alive?"

"Nope," Seto answered instantly. The he hesitated and muttered, "Well, at least I hope he's dead."

Husky hummed and looked over at his trident, frowning slightly. "How are we gonna get everyone to the valley?"

"I know a spell," Seto answered, waving his hand and chanting something. Husky suddenly floated into the air, flying alongside him. "They won't like that, but still."

"Put me down!" Husky cried, floating upside-down.

"The spell will wear off when you touch water again," Seto said with a smirk. "This is payback for butting a bra on me."

[...]

"But Aurey-"

"No, Jordan, I'm not going to just up and leave this place." Aurey crossed her arms, one of her red legs tapping against his chest. "What about the children? Are we just going to leave every single one here, in peril?"

"Aurey, we're in public. You're making a scene-"

"Good! I'm glad I'm making a scene, _King Jordan. _What happened to, 'The people come first'?"

"Y-you're part of the people," Jordan said quickly, taking a few steps back from the enraged She-Spider. "And so are our children. Look, dear, I-"

"Don't 'dear' me," Aurey snapped, marching up to him, pointing at him with one of her red-painted finger nails. "I am not leaving the entire Tribe behind, just so your family can be safe-"

"Aurey, please," Jordan whispered, reaching up to grab her hand. She visibly bristled, red widow body raising her up, even though she was still shorter than him. "Let me explain."

"Alright," she said, still scowling. Aurey crossed her arms and stepped back. "Explain."

"We're bringing more than just the family. You can pick four other women, and I'll be taking fifteen men from the army."

"What about the husbands of the women?"

"They'll come along."

"And children?'

"... There's only supposed to be two-"

"It's my choice, right? So if they have children, the children come."

There was no use in arguing with her. Jordan sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Alright, fine. No more than six, though."

"Good." Aurey turned and stalked off, walking expertly over the web that made up the road.

Jordan heard someone chuckle behind him. He turned and scowled at the armored Arachnade. "Shut it, Ghost."

Ghost grinned and took off his helmet, swiping his dark hair out of his eyes. "I'm surprised she hasn't bitten your head off. My dad's friend was hospitalized by his wife the other day."

Jordan shook his head, still rubbing his temple. "I don't want to hear it."

Ghost sniggered and walked over to him, black and yellow-ish orange legs moving slowly. He shook one leg and muttered, "You need to stop assigning me to guard duty, Jordan. This mid-day stuff is killing me."

"Sorry about that. I don't see names, I only see skill," Jordan said with a shrug, glancing over at Ghost. "And besides, you're socializing. Stop complaining."

Ghost sighed and looked around the village. The Arachnade Tribe took up most of a jungle. Those who wanted to lived in the trees (namely spiders who took after arboreal tarantulas, like Ghost) and those who didn't lived nearer to the ground. "So what's this about taking people to somewhere?"

"I need fifteen men, five women, and two children to take to the valley," Jordan answered, and started walking. He beckoned Ghost with him, saying, "You could use a break."

Ghost walked alongside him, seeming very short next to the taller Arachnade. "And why do you need to do that?"

"There's... I'll tell you when we get there."

"So I'm going?"

Jordan nodded, folding his hands behind his back. "Yes. You, and the rest of the better men in the army."

"I'm honored." His tone was ever-so-slightly sarcastic. "Because I definitely asked to go to that stupid valley."

"It's an order." Jordan's voice hardened, and his eyes narrowed. Ghost instantly snapped his mouth closed and nodded, sighing.

"Yes sir," he grumbled, then paused for a moment. "... So who else are you bringing?"

"I'm taking Jerald, for he knows how to wage a war. Then I'm taking Cornelius."

"Ugh," Ghost muttered, "You're taking that pansy of a spider?"

"He's the army's general, Ghost. He's been through two wars, and can nearly best me in a fight."

"Well, all you'd have to do is whip out that venom of yours, and..." Ghost sighed again, shoulders slumping. "I hate him."

"You only hate him because he's of a higher rank than you are."

Ghost muttered something under his breath and sighed, pulling on his helmet. "So when re we leaving?"

"I already asked Jerald to lead the rest of the Arachnades, once they gather. You and I, though, are leaving now."

Ghost looked up at him out of surprise. "What? Now?"

"That's why Aurey was so ticked earlier," Jordan replied, gesturing him down one of the paths that led to the ground. "Come on, let's go. I have already told all the needed men to go to the commons to find Jerald. We need a head start, because I want to talk to you."

"Okay...? ... You know, Jordan, I actually haven't been out of town in a while."

"Well, I have a feeling you won't be back in town for a while."

[...]

"We stay over here, in the fields," Ant directed, pointing to one particular spot in the valley. Bodil was watching him from a bit of ways away, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"Aye, sir. Are... Are the other Tribes going to be here?"

Ant turned and nodded to one Centaur. He was a dark black stallion, with a square jaw and dark glittering eyes. A scar ran over one of them, making it a milky grey. "Yes. Try not to kill anybody."

This earned uneasy murmuring throughout his small herd. It was no small thing—to be living with the other Tribes for an undetermined amount of time. Not only that, the Centaurs _did not _like the Arachnades. There was sure to be fight, and Ant hoped that Jordan would have the sense to not get near his herd.

"Sir, there are some Satyrs-"

Ant waved a hand and said, "It's okay. Bodil has only brought his arm generals, since they live in those mountains over there." He gestured towards them, and trotted over to Bodil.

One of the Satyrs—fur grey with age, lifted his head and looked blindly over at the Centaur. "So's this the pony you're always complainin' 'bout, Bodil?"

Bodil cleared his throat and fixed his tie, giving a nervous laugh. "Grandpa, not now."

Ant snorted and shook his head, then turned to the entrance of the valley when he heard many voices.

"So, over there is the forest. Then there's the lake that we made recently, for the fishboys and their Tribe. And then-"

"This place feels strange."

Sky faltered and looked down at the little Naga and opened his mouth, then closed it. The kid had bright, acidic eyes, but lacked the Medusa-effect that Sky had. "Well, it's protected with magic."

The kid sniffed and ran his fingers through his black hair, which was streaked with an orange that matched his tail. "Why magic?"

"Because... magic's the most powerful thing in the world. Just.. give me a moment, Kida."

Kida crossed his arms and stopped, then turned to talk to one of the grown Nagas. The lady smiled down at him patiently, listening to his questions and answering them to the best of her ability.

"Gods," Sky muttered, "Things are worse than I thought."

"Why do you say that?" Ant asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Two of those creatures were spotted at the edge of the jungle. They didn't come close, but it was enough to warn the entire Tribe that something was wrong," Sky explained, and sighed. "But... I might have found an apprentice, at least." He jerked a thumb back at Kida, and shrugged.

Ant hummed and looked around the valley, thanking whatever god out there that it was protected from those horrendous beasts.

[...]

"Well, we can't just abandon everybody," a green-winged Dragon hissed, matching tail flicking.

"Yes, I know," Ty said, waving his hands in the air. "But what else are we going to do? We need the representatives from each Tribe, even if they don't want to go."

"Representatives," a She-Dragon muttered, rolling her eyes. "Ty, we all know why only a small group can go. It's ta keep each Tribe alive, even if the others die."

"I'll be back here regularly to check up on the Tribe, May," he told the darker-skinned She-Dragon. "I'm not going to just abandon everybody."

"It seems like that," the green one snarled, and scales rippled over his pale skin for a moment.

"Well-"

"What are we supposed to do? You picked me to come along, but I have two- _three _children."

Ty cast a glance over at the mother's three children—one with stark white hair and red eyes, while the other two took after their mother. The white one was sitting down, staring up at them mutely.

"But you're the only mother, and you can't just leave them," Ty said quickly, then jerked back when a Dragon marched up to him. There was fire in her eyes, and she spat, "So my mother can't come along?"

"Jessy, your mother can hardly move as it is-"

There were shouts from the selected group that he had brought. They were halfway to the valley, and Ty had let it slip that nobody else would be coming.

They had not liked that. Now he had twenty grown Dragons biting at his tail, and there was no stopping their anger. A Dragon' anger was not something to mess with; even he knew that.

So Ty thanked the gods that Bashur's selected group came stampeding through the forest at that time. The pack of Dragons stopped and stared at the Minotaurs until they passed. Then, after a moment, one of the kids said, Unca Ty, why're those cows so weird?"

[...]

"So you needed to talk to me?" Ghost asked near the end of their short journey. It had taken not even half an hour to see the valley, and it was maybe another five minute's walk away.

"Yes," Jordan said, fingers drumming over his scepter. He was frowning at the ground as he walked, thinking things over. "I trust you."

"Well, I know that," Ghost interrupted, polishing his helmet slightly. "I mean-"

"So if I die, it's up to you to lead the Tribe."

And Ghost's mouth clamped shut. His eyes widened and he stuttered for a bit, before giving up on words.

Jordan continued, "I'm going to grow old eventually, and you'll outlive almost everybody, if you don't fall in battle."

"You're not old," Ghost said instantly with a shrug, and a wavering half-smirk. "How old are-"

"Twenty-one."

And Ghost fell silent.

For the next few minutes, they listened to the distant shouting that was coming from the valley, and the forest around them. Then, Ghost took a breath and said, "Well," and that was as much as he could say.

"It's just fourteen more years," Jordan muttered, "I plan to make the most of it; but a war with strange shadow beasts was not what I intended to happen."

"So you're scared of dying in battle?" Ghost snorted, and tried his best to forget the number running circles in his head.

"No, I'm scared of not having someone to take the throne. Dying in battle would be better than wasting away into nothing."

Ghost grunted, and after a moment muttered, "Well, you can trust me."

* * *

**Filler chapter, I know. And I'm sorry about not posting for a while; I've been busy and my wifi's been out. I've been writing, of course, I just never finished/had the time to post anything. Sorry about that. I know it's short, but I promise some action in the next chapter.**

**Bottom line is: None of the Tribes are happy, humans don't know much, so much dialogue.**

**Hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading. Leave a review, tell me what you think. Again, sorry if it's a bit rushed/short/filler, it'll get better. I just had to post something today so you guys don't think I've died. Stay awesome.**

**-Cold**


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